''Science officer log, stardate one-one-six-o-nine point one-two. I have spent the last 83 minutes gathering the extensive amount of data regarding the D'rellians and have been establishing a draft of their ethnography. With the help of our good scientific team which is filled with specialists of all spheres, I managed to draw a somewhat holistic portrait of the ground level elements of D'rellian culture. On the morphological aspect of their ethnicity, Mr. Reynolds, our local expert in linguistics, noticed similarities between the complex and most intriguing D'rellian language and remnants of Natufian writings found through archeological research in the Fertile Crescent, on Earth. Since the Natufian civilization were active during the early days of the Neolithic period, little is known about how they spoke, or wrote. Also, Reynolds included in his report that whether these ancient scriptures were actually Natufian of if they belonged to the Mesolithic pastoral bands that lived in the Liturgian valleys during the same time. In short, their linguistic properties remain a mystery, for now.''

Carem paused his discourse to drink a sip of water. He never knew when he was saying too much in his spoken logs. After all, Starfleet received and had access to all of his data, including the D'rellian ethnography he spent the last couple hours crafting with passion. Never in his (short) career in Starfleet had he been so thrilled by his work ; except of course that one time he witnessed the man-made birth of a new planet only a few days after he arrived on the Hyperion. If Carem mentionned, in his log, the minutes he spent working on the D'rellian ethnography, maybe it was to give the impression that it was hard work. It was, but the truth is that Sulev didn't even notice he was in the cultural analysis lab for so long given how excited he was. He resumed.

''On the structural level, however, D'rellians are far less enigmatic : most social infrastructures are easily identified as well as the usual institutions. Social stratification is present to a certain degree. They offer great potential for further research as field work becomes a possibility once things quiet down a bit. In conjunction with the geological, biological, astronomical and every other piece of data gathered from all disciplines, a xenoanthropological outlook shall help understand the D'rellian civilization and its complexity, while also offering tools to manage the current political crisis in the D'Rell system. It is an honour to be on the frontline of these events. First contact with an alien civilization always means a lot, especially when you specialize in this domain. I'm happy that this mission concludes my service on the Hyperion, and... Computer, pause log.''

He really, really wanted to tell how much this first assignment had been extremely formative for him and the immense impact his missions aboard the Hyperion had on his life, but Carem couldn't. He still didn't tell any member of the crew about his request to be reassigned. He hoped maybe making a little speech about it in his spoken log might help break the ice, but now he was fighting tears. It's as if saying it out loud finally made him realize these were the last memories he'll be having in this tin can that served as his home for the last months.

Blinking lights on his PADD took him away from his thoughts. Latest reports from CTO and the bridge indicated that maybe the Romulan ship next to them wasn't so harmless after all. He had to get back up there.

He left his chair, stretched his arms and legs, shook the D'rellian ethnography out of his focus and walked towards the turbolift, leaving his log unfinished.